Michigan appears set to pass a new law that would further peal back their state's statute of limitations for sexual crimes, and give victims a much longer period of time to have a lawsuit over sexual abuse that allegedly happened in the past. It seems to have bipartisan support (supported by both Democrats and Republicans). But in my opinion, this seems like a terrible terrible idea. I can't believe politicians could be this stupid. The Democrats on the Left often seem to be wacky when it comes to issues like this, but none of the Republicans are able to see any problem with this? Those statutes of limitations previously existed for a very good reason. It seems a lot of emotion is at play. What we have to remember is that sexual allegations can be weaponized. If a person accuses another person of something that happened in the very distant past, it can be very difficult to impossible for the accused to be able to defend themselves against those allegations, or be able to find or present any evidence that it didn't happen and the accuser is lying. Under a statute of limitations, the victim is given a certain amount of time after the alleged crime in which they have to bring the allegations, often up to 2 years (though the current statute of limitations in Michigan was much more generous than that). So the victim has plenty of opportunity to be able to report the crime and get justice. (Of course different rules apply when it is abuse involving children) The statute of limitations is designed to try to afford some protection and some degree of fairness to the person who is accused. What is especially outrageous is that they not only want to eliminate the statute of limitations in criminal cases (to punish the accused perpetrator) but they also want to eliminate the statute of limitations for lawsuits based on accusations of sexual abuse. In other words, to require the accused man to pay money to the alleged victim, who claims that man did something to her. They want to eliminate the statute of limitations when it involves the accuser trying to get money. People are not able to see what it wrong with that? The accuser in a civil case could often have a very strong motivation to lie and falsely accuse another person. If the court believes her allegations, she is given a very large amount of money! If the alleged crime happened a very long time ago, it's going to be impossible for the defendant to prove it didn't happen. Security video tapes and records are usually not kept that long, the memories of people fade, people who could be witnesses move away or die. Most people cannot remember the specifics of a situation that happened years ago. The accuser, though she may be lying, will know there is no chance whatsoever they will be able to prove she is lying, and faces no risk of punishment. Currently in Michigan I do not believe there is really a specific law saying that victims can sue for money over sexual abuse, but it has become a practice and precedent of the courts to allow and do that. This new law would seem to give an implicit approval, actually written into law, for the practice of awarding money for claims of sexual abuse. (Let's remember that before about 1980, lawsuits over sexual abuse did not exist, the courts had not accepted that concept as normal) The new law would extend the maximum age at which a survivor can file a claim, from 28 to 52, and would also eliminate the statute of limitations for criminal sexual conduct in the second or third degree. In Michigan, the current statute of limitations for criminal sexual conduct in the second and third degree for an adult victim has (or had) a limit of 10 years or when the victim turns 21 years old, whichever is later. As you can see, the old law was already very generous to victims. Michigan lawmakers renew effort to give sex abuse victims more time to sue, Joey Cappelletti, Associated Press, June 6, 2023 Michigan Legislature introduces bill to reform statute of limitations for sexual abuse, Justin Kent, June 6, 2023, WILX channel 10, division of NBC News In passing this new law, Michigan appears to be following the lead of New York. related threads: New York eliminates statute of limitations for sexual crimes Jury says Trump has to pay $5 million to woman who accused him of rape (in New York) BS: women get lots of money for sexual harassment (involving University of Michigan) In my view, the whole idea and concept behind this new law is completely insane. I can't believe people can be this stupid and emotional. This is not only going to be weaponized against individuals but also against organizations, such as churches, corporations, and universities. Making an organization pay gigantic amounts of money for a terrible ALLEGED crime that they were not even actually the ones who committed. I feel like this might be another excuse by the Left to pay out large amounts of taxpayer money, to destroy and attack churches, and to enact yet another form of wealth redistribution, with an element of feminism as well because we all know most often the gender of the person who will be paying and the gender of the person who will be getting the money. I ask for some logic and common sense, for people to stop and think for a little while and examine the details of these laws and what they will do, and have already begun doing.
